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Box Score 2 NEWARK, N.J. – Felician College sophomore right-hander John Holland (Jackson, N.J.) pitched a three-hitter as the Golden Falcons defeated host Bloomfield College, 8-1, in Game 1 of the teams' Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference baseball doubleheader on Friday morning at West Side Park. Senior righty Stephen Paladino (Staten Island, N.Y.) became Felician's all-time strikeout leader during Game 2, but suffered the loss in relief as Bloomfield gained a split with a 7-5 afternoon win.
Felician, ranked No. 9 in the most recent NCAA Division II East Region writers' poll, combined for 20 hits on the day. Golden Falcon seniors Gabriel Fellin (Temple, Pa.) and Aaron Brill (West Palm Beach, Fla.) were each 4 for 9.
In Friday's opener, Holland (1-3) tossed Felician's first complete game in nearly two years. His only blemish was an unearned run in the second inning. The second was also the only frame in which the Deacons put multiple runners on base. Holland struck out a career-high 12 batters and walked two. In nine innings, he threw 104 pitches.
The Golden Falcons trailed, 1-0, through four innings before breaking the game open with a six-run fifth. After Felician loaded the bases with none out by sandwiching an error around a pair of hit batsmen, sophomore Ralph Caccavale (Massapequa, N.Y.) tied the game with a fielder's choice grounder. A bunt single by Fellin once again filled the bags, and Brill follwed with a three-run double down the left-field foul line. Run-scoring singles by Brennan Price (Middlesex, N.J.) and Jay Collazo (Wall, N.J.) capped the rally.
Felician (11-10, 3-1 CACC) tacked on a pair of runs in the ninth off of the Deacon bullpen. Price was 2 for 4 with a double and Fellin had two hits and scored twice. Junior right fielder Shadi Azar (South San Francisco, Calif.) doubled and scored for Bloomfield. The previous complete game for the Golden Falcons came on Apr. 1, 2012, by Brian Dudzinski in a 3-1 home victory over Wilmington (Del.) University.
The nightcap was deadlocked, 3-3, after seven innings before senior third-baseman Jordan Tackett (Fredericksburg, Va.) gave the visitors the lead with a two-run double in the top of the eighth. However, the first three hitters off of Paladino (1-2) singled to load the bases in the home half of the eighth, and the Deacons tied the game on a pair of passed balls.
Matthew Facendo (Hazlet, N.J.) came on to spell Paladino, but surrendered P.J. Cardone's (North Bergen, N.J.) nubber in front of home plate that plated Ray Lang (Middlesex, N.J.) with the go-ahead run. An RBI single by Allen Rivera (Vineland, N.J.) completed the Deacons' four-run uprising.
Sophomore righty Kyle Murzyn (Glassboro, N.J.) came on to close for Bloomfield (3-11, 3-3), but Felician staged a rally. With one on and two outs, Joe Petosa (Spotswood, N.J.) singled, and Chris Faber (Neptune, N.J.) reached on an error. But Murzyn induced Collazo to ground into a forceout for his first save of 2014.
The Deacons' Justin Ecleavea (South San Francisco, Calif. (2-3) pitched 1 1/3 innings of relief to earn the victory. Teammates Dominique Parra (Bronx, N.Y.) and Juan Hilario (Bronx, N.Y.) had two hits apiece. Tackett had two doubles and three RBI and Brill was 3 for 4, including the 100th base hit of his Felician career. He is the 20th Golden Falcon to reach that milestone, and needed just 69 games to do so.
Paladino picked up three strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings out of the bullpen, bringing his career total to 212. He passed Scott Van Es (210, 2005-08) for Felician's career record.
